Bach, J S: Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV1052

Recorded in 1994 this recording of Bach’s violin concertos has lost nothing of its freshness and sparkle. Thomas Zehetmair built, since his Salzburg Festival debut at the age of 16, an impressive international career travelling virtuoso playing with the world’s most famous orchestras conductors. His open and unconventional mind kindled his interest in Historical Early Music Practice, and his interpretations of the baroque repertoire show a deep insight in the style, while never losing his innate musicality and “Spielfreude”.

Zehetmair is joined by the Amsterdam Bach Soloists, an elite group drawn from principals of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, both sharing his interest in early music and his enthusiasm.

The great Johann Sebastian Bach grew up around violin music: his father Johann Ambrosius was an accomplished violinist. This influence is reflected in Sebastian’s compositional output, which contains a large number of solo and ensemble works for the instrument – including the concertos on this recording. The works, written in approximately 1720, are based on Vivaldi’s concerto model from the beginning of the 18th century, and – in the case of the D minor and G minor concertos – are reconstructions of the harpsichord concertos.

Indeed, many of Bach’s concertos for harpsichord were in fact rearrangements of earlier instrumental works, and from the passagework in BWV 1052 and 1056 it is clear that the violin was originally the intended instrument. Together with rich‐sounding dialogue that is a result of the contrast between the intricate solo passages and the slower‐moving accompanying instruments, opportunities for virtuosic display abound in all of the works’ final movements, especially in the energetic Gigue of BWV 1041.

Violinist Thomas Zehetmair studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum and made his festival debut at the Salzburg Festival aged just 16. He has since built up an impressive international career as a soloist, also performing with the Zehetmair Quartet, and is musical director of the Northern Sinfonia (UK) as well as guest conductor of several other major European orchestras. He is joined in the recording by the acclaimed Amsterdam Bach Soloists.

This unusual recording offers you the chance to look into the ‘composer’s workshop’ with four concertos by Bach: two of them are his own transcriptions of earlier works (the fourth Brandenburg and the Concerto for two violins), while the other two are highly convincing reconstructions of original concertos, still based on Bach’s own transcriptions!

The Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, founded in 2006, is a young, Berlin-based chamber orchestra on a mission to transform the traditional experience of concert-going. In collaboration with artists from many different fields, the ensemble searches for new forms of presentation and performance, including music theater and "concert installations".

The core of the ensemble is a string orchestra of 15 players that can split up into smaller chamber groups or be joined by guest musicians, depending on the demands of the program. The repertoire, which stretches from the early Baroque to contemporary music, requires all members of the ensemble to perform in chamber music settings as well as solistically

This new recording presents two Violin Concertos and the Double Concerto BMV 1043 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The solo violin part is played by concertmaster Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, also a regular guest of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

Apollo’s Fire, the leading American period-instrument orchestra hailing from Cleveland, launches a major new series on Avie with two vibrant and varied recordings (a recording of Mozart is being released simultaneously), featuring the music of J.S. Bach, anticipating their UK debut at the Wigmore Hall, 30 November.

Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra founded in 1992 by award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell, launches a major new association with Avie with two releases that exemplify “the intense detailing Sorrell and company bring to music from the Baroque and Classical eras.” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). These vibrant performances of varied works by J.S. Bach feature popular repertoire brought together in pairings that have not appeared on disc before. The 2-CD Bach set takes the ever-popular Brandenburg Concertos, and uniquely couples them with two Harpsichord Concertos, one of which is also presented in a reconstruction for violin.

Taking its name from the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo’s Fire is dedicated to the performance of 17th and 18th-century music on period instruments. Founder and Music Director Jeannette Sorrell and her ensemble of dynamic and creative early-music artists from North America and Europe have been praised internationally for stylistic freshness and buoyancy, animated spontaneity, technical excellence, and creative programming.